


Just Two Dudes in the Tunnel of Love

by carmeliaslaith (birbsandemidogs04)



Series: Different Perspectives [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Episode: s08e08 Clear Day, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, More characters to come, i needed to write this though, idek what this is, vld killed me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 16:24:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17563949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birbsandemidogs04/pseuds/carmeliaslaith
Summary: The only clear thing about this day is how dense Keith and Lance truly are





	Just Two Dudes in the Tunnel of Love

They didn’t mean to get in line for the Clear Day Tunnel Ride. No way, no how. There is no way in hell that Lance would ever knowingly get on a Tunnel of Love lookalike with Keith.

 

It kind of all happened too fast for them to even react, and by the time they actually do it’s too late. One minute Keith’s asking the locals boring security questions while Lance hangs around and tries to assess the danger visually, and the next, the Unilu guy commanding the ride is yelling at them about standing in line.

 

It’s only when Lance glances backwards to see that he realizes the guy is right, and his eyes widen. There’s a whole queue of aliens behind them glaring and complaining.

 

Keith’s arms are crossed. “Well, we didn’t know we were in line, so.” he’s telling the guy.

 

“Well, I don’t have all day, so.” the Unilu guy bites back. “You’ve already wasted my time, so you might as well take a ride.”

 

Lance shakes his head emphatically so as to insert himself into the confrontation. “Look, we’re sorry for all the trouble, but we really can’t take a ride right now.”

He really doesn’t _want_ to take a ride right now.

He starts to step aside, ushering the aliens immediately behind him to step forwards.

 

But the Unilu guy’s arms are crossed, and Lance knows that’s final. “Not a chance.” he says, and quite forcefully shoves them into the boat positioned next to them. Keith’s side rushes into Lance’s before he quickly rights himself, sitting up rigidly like there’s a stick up his ass. He’s glaring daggers into the Unilu guy as the ride starts up while all Lance can do is hold onto the bar in front of them and look around.

 

Another Unilu guy, this one around their own age, looks them over boredly, leaning one of his hands against his cheek. “Keep all arms and legs inside the ride while operational, and have a blissfully burrowful time.”

 

As the ride starts to move there’s total silence between them. Lance finds himself thinking about all the other times he’s ever been on a tunnel of love-esque ride. The first time had been with a crush of his whose name he can’t remember anymore, because they’d both been ten when it happened. Nothing had happened that he recalls. Actually he thinks it might have ended badly, with her getting off the boat at the end and running off with another kid. The next and latest time he got on one of these rides was with Hunk at the Garrison. That time was purely for research purposes, to film the inside for some reason. He remembers having to drag Hunk on to the ride because of how much he hates them, only for Hunk to discover he doesn’t mind kiddy rides.

 

That’s what it’s sort of become for him — a kiddy ride. But there’s always that sense of respect for the romantic aspect of these sorts of rides. Which is why it’s odd that of all the people, he’s sitting here with Keith.

 

The sky above them is disappearing gradually now as they slip further inside the ride. Lance blinks, gaze adjusting to the momentary darkness. His ears twitch as the dull sound of high-pitched singing reaches them.

 

“What is that?” he asks into the silence, bending forward somewhat.

 

“I don’t know,” is Keith’s wary response.

 

Then suddenly they’re flooded by dull rainbow spotlights as the whole ride starts glowing. Around them on all sides are animatronic models of the mining mole-creatures of the planet, smiling and singing along to the weird song he’d heard earlier. “Wow, that’s creepy,” he mutters. The robotic movements of the statues is already starting to freak him out. The sooner they get out of this ride, the better.

 

“Yeah, the sooner we get outta here, the better,” Keith responds, arms crossed again. “We don’t have time for this.”

 

That takes Lance back to the other time Keith had said that to him, back when he came back from the Quantum Abyss with his mother and Romelle. He shakes his head to rid himself of the feelings that come with that time. Old feelings, and new. The thought makes him want to lapse into silence and fight Keith at the same time, but he instead does neither.

 

“You need to loosen up sometime, man.” he says, looking over. Keith is frowning so hard Lance thinks he might get his face stuck that way. It’s almost funny how the scenery and Keith’s mood are completely opposite. “I’ve never seen someone frown in one of these rides.” he adds, huffing out a laugh.

 

Keith looks back at him briefly, but Lance averts his gaze, looking instead at the animatronics again. They’re chanting, “Clear Day! Clear Day!” over and over again. He remembers the time the leader had called Voltron to request them on Clear Day and then chewed them out since they didn’t make it. He can’t say he blames the guy. The planet’s dusty enough even on this day, supposedly the clearest of the year.

 

Then Keith turns his head away abruptly, drawing Lance out of his thoughts. “The only reason I’m uptight is because there’s a threat to everyone’s safety out there, and it’s called the Galra.” he responds. “They don’t care if it’s Clear Day or not, they will attack. Haggar doesn’t care. That’s why we have to be on our guards. We can’t waste time on rides.”

 

Lance surprises himself by touching Keith’s shoulder. It’s an automatic response, something he doesn’t control at all. It makes Keith turn to him, shock coming across his face.

 

“I get that. Believe me, I do. More than you think.” he says. “But while we’re on this ride, maybe you could lighten up just a little bit? We’re gonna be here for a while, man.”

 

Keith doesn’t say anything in response to that, although his posture does relax slightly.

 

But right when it does, the ride mysteriously stops. The two whip their heads up, immediately on their guard, and pull their bayards before the comms go on.

 

“Uh, technical difficulties, I’m afraid,” says the tinny voice of one of the Unilu guys running the ride. “We’ll try to have her up and running again in a few doboshes. In the meantime, do not leave the ride, and keep appendages inside of it at all times. Have a blissfully burrowful time.”

 

As the comms switch back off, Lance scratches his head. “Well, looks like we’ll be here for a bit longer than that,” he says, boiling inside.

 

Keith glances to his left, where the models are still singing their song. Lance remarks internally, _They’re_  having a blissfully burrowful time. 

 

—

 

Silence is awkward, and Lance is getting restless. You can only go so long without talking before you start to sweat. “This is torture,” he groans, thrusting his head into his hands. It really is torture — the song has become all too familiar all too fast. It’s only been three minutes but those three minutes have felt like an eternity.

 

Next to him, Keith moans into his own hands, his voice catching. When he lifts his face it’s splotchy and red. “We need to get out of here.” he says, and Lance has a feeling it’s geared more towards Keith, himself, than him.

 

“How are we gonna do that, genius?” Lance snaps. Cabin fever. “We’re stuck!”

 

The lap bars seem to have become even tighter after they’d become stuck, like hot glue was poured over them at the entrance.

 

Keith slumps. “I don’t know,” he mutters. His Bayard is limp in his hands. “I guess we just have to let it run its course.”

 

Lance’s eyes widen slightly. “Where did that come from?”

 

Keith stares at him blankly so he continues, “That calm. It was like you just discovered inner peace or something.”

 

Keith tilts his head at that, smiling slightly. “Krolia taught me a lot of stuff in the Quantum Abyss. One of them was how to control my anger. It’s not easy.”

 

“No, I bet. When we first met, you were an angsty emo teen. And an orphan.”

He adds the last part softly, afraid to trigger him.

 

“And you were a goofball,” responds Keith. As Lance watches, the smile on his face spreads. “I guess some things never change.”

 

“Hey, I’m not a goofball.” Lance returns, crossing his arms. “I’m like the cool, ninja —“

 

“-sharpshooter, right?”

Keith’s grinning now, smirking, like they aren’t stuck on a ride together and are just two friends reminiscing on the good old days and how it used to be.

 

Lance clears his throat, suddenly shrinking back. “Yeah. Remember when we got stuck in that elevator?” he says, and bringing it up makes him smile at how much they’ve grown.

 

“Turned out the pool sucked anyway.” Keith nods. “Remember when the castleship got corrupted and tried to kill us all?”

 

“Yeah, I almost got ejected into space! Ha, and then we had the spore fight.” he adds.

 

Keith nods again, this time to the floor.

 

“What happened?” Lance wants to ask, but instead he drums his fingers awkwardly on the bar, only now noticing the music again.

 

“Now the castleship’s gone,” Keith says quietly.

 

Lance nods. “Yeah. Ever think about how we spent years and years up there? Like, I’m not even sure I’m a teenager anymore. We might be adults now.”

 

“I don’t feel like one.” Keith admits.

 

Lance smiles sadly. “Me, either.”

 

And then, feeling a sudden emboldenment, he says, “So what’s the deal with you now, anyway?” and immediately regrets it.

 

Keith’s eyes are a fraction wider when he responds, “What do you mean?”

 

Lance rolls his eyes back, thinking about this new Keith, the one who keeps pushing him away. “Well, you came back and started pushing me away,” he says, for lack of a better term. “I don’t know.”

He looks down at his lap, wishing he’d never said anything in the first place.

 

“I, uh. I don’t.” Keith stammers.

 

“It’s okay. I’m sorry I brought it up.” Lance says, shrinking.

He averts his gaze and lets the Quiznak-awful music flood his brain like a tsunami to escape he awkwardness.

 

But then Keith shifts.

“Sorry if I made you feel that way.” he says.

 

Lance’s cheeks burn.

 

“I guess I was just so caught up with everything Lotor was doing that I didn’t have time.” he continues, but it isn’t bitter. And it’s not cruel, and it doesn’t make Lance feel like he’s at fault.

 

But there’s something bothering Lance. His brow furrows, and he takes the chance, turning to look at Keith under the hazy rainbow lights. Keith’s face is lit up by a dozen rainbows and he looks pretty, in a fuzzy kind of way. Lance shocks himself by shivering.

 

“Uhm, but what about afterwards?” he says. “You risked your life to go after Acxa, and you picked me to leave that stupid game show but then you said a totally bogus reason.”

 

Keith looks perplexed for only a second before answering while nodding, “I said I didn’t want to spend eternity with you.”

 

Lance almost laughs. “Yeah! Did you mean that?”

 

“No.” Keith says simply, harshly. He looks down at his own lap. “No. You’re right, it was bogus.”

 

“So?” Lance ventures next. He almost feels afraid to ask why.

 

But he has a right to know. Knocking down Keith’s walls is nothing easy. It feels like, as soon as you push down some, getting him to smile and respond to you, then another layer rises up and blocks you again. Like he’s almost afraid to get close to anyone. Lance wonders about this.

 

Keith’s looking ahead now. “I picked you because I know how much you love your family,” he confesses, and this is the most raw he’s ever been. “And I didn’t want to pick anyone else.”

 

Lance looks around at him, stares. “Wow. You noticed that?”

 

Those feelings are coming back again, the ones he keeps feeling. The confusing ones.

 

“Yeah,” Keith smiles. “It’s kinda hard not to.”

 

Lance shrugs. That is true. It’s no secret how homesick he was aboard the castleship, even though he’d worked his hardest to make sure nobody knew. “Well, thanks, Keith. But why didn’t you say that then?”

 

Keith shrugs this time. “I don’t know.”

 

“It felt like you were pushing me away.” Lance murmurs. The music fades away again.

 

“It did?” Keith asks. He’s gazing at Lance now again. “I - I. Yeah.”

It looks like he’s given up fighting off the truth, which is at the same time a relief and an outrage.

 

“So you *were*!” Lance explodes. “Why?”

 

Keith’s face is red even under the lights. “Because you - you and Allura -“

 

“So?” Lance cries. “So what? We can still be friends, Keith!”

 

“It’s not that!”

Keith’s hands are up by his head like he’s about to rip his hair out.

 

“What is it then?”

 

“Look, you wouldn’t understand.” Keith’s voice shrinks a little, his chest heaving. “It doesn’t matter anymore, anyway. Let’s just-“

 

“Wouldn’t understand what?” Lance bursts.

 

“That I like you, okay?” Keith snaps, and everything goes quiet for a bit, the boat gently rocking on the water and the animatronics singing in the background. Keith runs a hand through his hair and glares down at his lap again.

“And not just as a friend. But it doesn’t matter because you were always going to be with Allura, so.”

 

Lance’s eyes widen. “You... _like_ me?”

The walls have tipped over. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

 

Keith is still glaring at his lap. “It wouldn’t have mattered. You were all over Allura. And it doesn’t matter now, because you’re together. Look, I’ll get over it. I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”

 

Lance’s hand lands on his shoulder, and everything becomes clear all at once — how he feels about Allura, how he feels about Keith, and everything in between.

 

But then the comms burst to life again, drowning him out. “Sorry about that, passengers. The ride is now operational and should start to work again. Please remember to keep appendages inside the ride at all times and have a blissfully burrowful time.”

 

The ride starts up again as if on cue, lunging forward into a gradual crawl as it continues along the path. But Lance can only stare at Keith. “I... think that date with Allura was a mistake.” he says slowly, remembering the abrupt end to it, the off feeling he’d had the whole time, the way Allura had looked as uncomfortable as he’d felt. It hadn’t even really been a date.

 

Keith blinks. “Wh-what do you mean?”

 

“I mean, I think I like you instead.” Lance returns, barely meeting his gaze. “Oh, quiznak.”

It’s a revelation for sure, and he’s sure it has something to do with the fact that his face seems to be getting closer and closer to Keith’s. Then he feels Keith grip his shoulders and stare at his lips and they’re kissing, soft and sweet, in a moving boat in a weird-ass ride.


End file.
